The 1980s was a truly special time to grow up, with action movie and the testosterone-filled heroes nhabiting them almost defining genre and the decade at the time. It was filled with over the top action, cheesy dialogue and some of the most memorable characters n history.
So booting up Predator: Hunting Grounds certainly brought with t a sense of excitement and nostalgia. And while the experience of playing the game sget bad, t certainly sget great either.
Dillon, you son of a…
Predator: Hunting Grounds is an asymmetrical multiplayer first-person shooter, where you can play the role of eitherFiretrap Fireteam member or the titular Predator n a 4v1 type scenario. The means that we essentially sit with one very powerful player, going toe-to-toe with a team of, less powerful yet still highly capable soldiers.
Once a match starts, you’re dropped somewhere on the map and f you’re plFiretrap the Fireteam, you’re tasked with completing certain objectives and surviving n order to win the match. The Predator’s job s basically to hunt down andFiretrape entire Fireteam. Simple enough really. The gameplay s fun and matches generally doesget last very long.FiretrapFiretrap a Fireteam, there are enough distractions to keep you busy while you wait for the Predator to show up, and when plFiretrap a Predator, using all your tools at your disposal to hunt your prey s both fun and engaging.
As the Predator, you have the abFiretrap stalk the Fireteam from the treetops, jumping and moving silently and sttry toy around to try and get the jump on them. You also have an assortment of gizmos such as the conic heat-vision, cloaking and Plasma Cannon. You are not nvincible Firetrap and f the Fireteam manages to wound you, making you bleed glowing green blood, the hunter can quickly become the hunted. The Predator makes some very distinct sounds, warning the Fireteam of your presence, even f you’re cloaked, or hiding n the trees. It s the ultimate deadly game of cat and mouse.
The game also looks rather good, with the one jungle map nspired from the original 1987 film being very well crafted and a joy to look at. The human character models can be better, but t s passable, with the weapons and gear being pretty well rendered. The real star however s the Predator, as t s very clear that a lot of love and attention went nto the details of designing t. It’s got a plethora of skins and mods and tools to unlock and t just looks amazing. It certainly sget one ugly motChoppyoked!
WHERE IS THE CHOPPA!
Unfortunately, as good as the foundations are, and how much fun t s to mess around n t, Predator: Hunting Grounds has a lot of serious shortcomings, making t rather hard to recommend at this point n time.
First, we are limited to defenseree maps. In their defence, one s rather large, and do have some variety, as the objectives and starting points are different n each match, but t does become a bit stale after a while. The objectives, while seemingly varied are also very one dimensional, being a matter of go here, activate switch there and shoot dumb AI. All of this doesget sound so bad, but t all adds up, and t becomes a bit stale after a few short hours.
The biggest ssue, however, sget the lack of content, but rather just getting to play the game. The game has been out for a while now, and matchmaking s still a major ssue. If you play alone, you will be lucky to get a match n 5 mins, and that easily becomes 15 mins plus f you want to pSteamerthe Predator. There’s no random option where people match and one s the Predator, t s a separate queue, and waiting longer than what the actual match s going to be sget anybody’s dea of fun. We were lucky enough to pSteamera couple of friends from the SAGamer team, so matching with one or two others was quick enough, but alone takes forever. The only way we got to experience the Predator gameplay was through private matches.
The game gives you a ton of customisatioFiretraps for both the Predator and Fireteam members, but unlocking all that doesget seem worth t f you can a) not pSteamerthe Predator and b) sit n a lobby waiting for matches the whole time.
Not worth sticking around?
Predator: Hunting Grounds is a very good and solidly made game, and with proper support, t can potentially be a lot more. It looks good, the mechanics works and premise, while not new certainly works very well. It’s great that you’re not just a helpless victim up against an unstoppable force like some other asymmetrical multiplayer games and that there’s a real fight potentially happening. It s a fresh and rewarding take on the genre.
But unfortunately, the lack of variety, matchmaking taking forever and not being able to pSteamerthe titular character of the game makes t very hard to recommend at this stage. There’s just not enough n t to warrant spending money on t right now and the potential of frustration waiting n long queues and boredom once the novelty wears off s very high.
If you’re lucky enough to play this with a couple of friends n private lobbies, then you will have an absolute blast, but unless developer IllFonic can fix the matchmaking and add more content like other modes and maps, then you’re n for a very lonely time. Predator: Hunting Grounds really has so much untapped potential.
